Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone Mystery Series

July 8, 2016

The first book I’m going to be covering this month for the monthly most popular & recommended mystery series is Leslie Meier‘s Lucy Stone Mystery Series. The first book in this series is Mistletoe Murder – a Christmas themed mystery, which is no surprise since the Lucy Stone Mystery Series is a holiday themed series, with each entry revolving around a different holiday. This series began in 1991, and I’ve been reading it for almost that long! It is Leslie Meier’s only series >>> which means she can devote all of her writing time to keeping her fans (like me!) happily reading.

With the holidays approaching, Lucy Stone is about as busy as you can expect for a mother of three children (son Toby and daughters Elizabeth and Sara), though her husband Bill picks up some of the slack. She works nights at the Country Cousins mail order phone support line. When she discovers the body of Sam Miller, owner of the company, dead in his car with a hose running from his exhaust pipe into a window, she thinks it’s suicide>>> but in a small community like Tinker’s Cove, Maine, it doesn’t take long for word to get out that Sam Miller was murdered.

One of the things I liked about this entry in the series is how the murder investigation needed to bend around Lucy’s schedule, instead of Lucy just deciding to drop everything to pursue something that isn’t really her job. Lucy Stone is a wife with three children and visiting relatives, and at the same time is casually investigating the owner of the company she works at. It’s only natural that something is going to have to give – and during the more thoroughly “holiday” part of the book, she’s definitely in full on “mom mode”, and investigating a murder just has to fade into the background to the practical details of shopping, hosting family guests, managing meals, and child care. This is one of the reasons I enjoy the series so much >>> Lucy isn’t able to just start investigating mysteries while her family is busy doing something else. Her family seems real.

The Lucy Stone Mystery Series takes place in a quaint town in Maine (the fictional Tinker’s Cove) which provides a great Cozy atmosphere. The people are very much like people who you would know. And, as many of you who have been with me a while know, I love different yearly seasons. Tinker’s Cove is perfect for seasonal fun. You’ll “feel” the winter cold while you enjoy the snow, and the fall has its vibrant leaves >>> things I truly miss down here in San Antonio. I very much rely on the Cozy Mysteries I read to provide the seasonal atmosphere that I miss so much down here.

Another thing I really like is that this particular mystery did keep me guessing pretty far into the book. A lot of the time, I’m able to make a pretty educated guess as to “whodunit”, but in this case I actually wasn’t sure. At the same time, when the mystery did resolve, it was obvious in hindsight >>> the clues were all there. To me that’s one of the hallmarks of a really really good mystery.

There are some elements that some Cozy readers may not like. For example, the death of a family pet is a plot point in the novel in an unpleasant fashion, and this is definitely something that I would be surprised to see in a lot of the Cozies released today.

As I said earlier, this series started years ago and I’ve been a fan for many of those years. I definitely recommend this series. This specific book is (in my opinion) the beginning to a “modern classic” Cozy Mystery series. It’s a Cozy Mystery series that should be read chronologically, so you can grow with Lucy and her family and friends.

I had a hard time with Bill’s attitude, so I stopped reading the series after half a dozen books, or so. But I loved the setting and the plots were intriguing. Every so often I think of starting over, mostly because lots of readers like these books, and I think maybe I might view them differently.

Susy, I’ve stopped reading lots of authors for one reason or another. (Once I leave a series, I usually don’t go back. Usually I find the same thing bothering me if I try to go back…) I hope that you have a different experience “going back” than I usually do.

I am a content editor for Gemma Halliday Publishing, so you know I love cozy mysteries, but I am also at work on my own book set in Maine where I actually live! I did not know about Lucy Stone books, so I will surely read one or two based on your review–not to copy but to learn how she built the plots.

Tracey, the fact that it takes Leslie Meier about a year to release a book is sort of double-edged: It takes her a year because her books are well-thought out but at the same time it makes us have to wait for the next book in the series. And they’re worth the wait!

KG, I bought all the Lucy Stone Cozies in Kindle format so that I can read them (out of order!) during their appropriate holidays. I decided not to wait until Christmas time to review this series, and it was sort of nice re-reading a Maine, cold-weather Cozy during our hottest months of the year.

Margaret M, I’m planning on reading some of the Lucy Stone and Hannah Swensen holiday Cozies during their appropriate holiday seasons. However, this is just a hope-I-can plan, since there are so many other holiday Cozies out there. These two series just feel like I’m going home >>> other than the murders!

Billie, I think Lucy’s family and friends have a lot to do with why we love this series. And, I’m looking forward to my next one, although I’m a little behind. Instead of re-reading some of them I should probably start catching up to Candy Corn Murder.

I have enjoyed this series over the years. The best part is that we get to see Lucy and her family grow and mature during the course of the books. In addition to the mystery being solved, the family has faced problems along the way such as financial concerns and parent-child conflicts. The children have grown into adulthood and Lucy and Bill’s relationship has strengthened. In some series, the characters are stagnant from book to book but this series depicts how life really changes.

I love the Lucy Stone books and have read all of them — some more than once. The most recent one “Candy Corn Murder” revisits the mystery in “Mistletoe Murder”, which I thought was interesting. It’s not a rehashing of the crime, there are whole new aspects that come out. I was sort of disappointed in the book otherwise, though. Bill was too snarky and even downright nasty at times and some of the other plot devices didn’t seem to hold together very well. I’m excited for the upcoming one, though, and hope the problems I saw in “Candy Corn Murder” were just an aberration.

Dragons3, I’m not caught up with this book in the series, but it’s a pretty good track record that you love 21 out of 22 books! (I’m looking forward to Eggnog Murder – her Christmas anthology with Lee Hollis & Barbara Ross)

I wouldn’t say I didn’t love it, I just didn’t love it as much as the other books. When it was right, it was very, very good. I just felt some parts were less right than others. I’ve already got “Eggnog Murder” and the next in the series — British Mansion murder (or something like that) on pre-order.

Probably now, unless I’m in the middle of a book I can’t put down. I don’t usually wait to read Christmas cozies, but I sometimes do go back and reread them at Christmas. This past Christmas I went back and reread “Rest Ye Merry” by Charlotte Macleod, “Sugar Cookie Murder” by Joanne Fluke, and “Candy Cane Murder”.

Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone series is my very, very favorite cozy series! In fact, right now I’m re-reading Star Spangled Murder & really enjoying it, especially since I always forget what I read, ha, ha. I even loaned the 1st book of the series to my reading friend at work & it’s become her fave series too, probably because she’s also married & raising children as well as working. I love Tinker’s Cove. I love Lucy Stone. I can’t help wondering if Lucy Stone is just like the real life author. I can’t wait for the next book to come out, I think in Aug or Sept. I try to read them slowly, since I don’t want them to end & have to wait a long time for another new one. Hope she never ends this series!

Barbara, this series is one of my favorite, too. It sounds like you do what I do with our favorite TV mystery shows. Instead of watching them back-to-back because we enjoy them so much, my husband and I sort of space them out so they last…

Maureen, thank you so much for the very, very kind words. I’m sure glad you found us over here on the Cozy-Mystery site! I hope you enjoy the Lucy Stone mysteries as much as I do >>> and as you can see from the comments, I’m not alone!

The last book I read in this series was “English Tea Murder” in 2011. Do I have some catching up to do. Another series to add to my to be re-read list and TBR. Either you are looking for a good book to read or trying to catch up.

Sheila in CT, I’ve sort of given up trying to stay current with my very favorite Cozy authors. I try to read several new-to-me authors in between my favorite authors, which means I’m behind with most of them. However, it also allows me to find new favorite authors to add to my list, which means I’m then behind with even more authors. A Catch-22 of sorts!

This is one of long time favorite cozy series. It’s very traditional — no “shtick” — no weird settings, weird occupations, etc. — just good old fashioned family life with mom detecting. I’ve loved watching Lucy’s family growing up over the many years, each new book feels like catching up with old friends. While I have to say that I do usually figure out “whodunnit” very early on, that’s probably more because I’ve been reading mysteries for so many years that you get a feeling for these things — things have to be presented in a book in ways that are not as they would be in real life (in real life there are an infinite number of suspects, while in a book you have to introduce any possible suspect fairly early on). That said, I really enjoy reading them anyway! I particularly loved the one where they travelled to France — I know there was a thread on this blog about “away” books, where the sleuth is out of their normal locale — and I recall that many people didn’t like those because they miss the usual “supporting characters” — but in the France story, Lucy and her husband traveled with their best friends — and their daughter was already there — so you basically had all the usual characters along for the fun. I really loved that one! (Yes, even though I guessed the murderer as soon as they were introduced 😉 )

Margaret StashEmpress, I think that’s why this series is so popular. Lucy and her family are approachable, they’re people you’d like to know. I like your “It’s very traditional — no “shtick” — no weird settings, weird occupations, etc. — just good old fashioned family life with mom detecting.” You put it exactly the way I should have put it in my entry!

Last fall I did buy Mistletoe Murder at a library’s used book sale as I recognized the author’s name of seeing it many times in the monthly recommendations. I never did read the book as had several Christmas books to choose from. I’ll be sure to read it this season due to the comments of all who enjoy this series.